At least 100,000 corpses believed to be killed under Assad regime found in Syria
The Syrian Emergency Task Force, a U.S.-based anti-Assad advocacy group announced on Monday, Dec. 16, the discovery of a mass grave just north of Damascus filled with at least 100,000 corpses killed by former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s government. Mouaz Moustafa, the head of the advocacy group, said it’s just one of five mass graves he’s found over the years.
Moustafa said he believes 100,000 corpses is “the most conservative estimate,” alleging that there are likely more mass graves than the five sites. He also said these include the remains of U.S., British and other foreign citizens.
Moustafa told Reuters the evidence is based on the testimonies of workers who escaped Syria, accusing the intelligence branch of the Syrian air force of being in charge of transporting the bodies to mass graves after the victims died from torture.
The advocacy group also said the grave sites are unsecured and need to be preserved for evidence in future investigations.
Assad is reportedly estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians since 2011. The regime launched a crackdown on protests against his rule, which eventually grew into a civil war.
Assad, who escaped to Moscow, denied any allegations of human rights violations. The Assad family ruled Syria for nearly 60 years and is accused of torture and mass executions of prisoners.
US urges American citizens to leave Syria amid violence and terrorism
The United States urged Americans in Syria to leave the country on Monday, Dec. 16, after the fall of the Assad regime earlier this month. The U.S. government warned the situation in Syria has become “volatile” and “unpredictable” with acts of violence and “terrorism” in the aftermath of a bloody civil war.
The U.S. instructed citizens unable to get out to “be prepared to shelter in place” for long periods. Officials added the U.S. government can “not provide any routine or emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in Syria.”
The United States also noted the U.S. Embassy in Damascus suspended its operations in 2012 and advised American citizens to contact the “U.S. Embassy in the country they plan to enter.”
Dictator Bashar Assad’s rule ended just over a week ago. He has been reportedly granted asylum in Moscow after he was overthrown by Syrian rebels.
The warning to Americans also comes as a more widespread conflict plays out.
Israeli airstrikes targeting missile warehouses along Syria’s coast rocked the region on Monday in what officials called the “most violent strikes” in more than a decade.
While rebels control much of Syria, the territory remains divided among different militant groups backed by foreign countries, including the United States and Turkey.
Biden, Trump react to reignited rebellion in Syria as Assad flees
Syrian President Bashar Assad has landed in Russia, according to state media. This comes after a swift offensive targeting Damascus forced him to flee the country on Dec. 7, ending nearly 60 years of Assad family rule in Syria.
There were swift reactions from U.S. leaders, including from President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. Before Assad fled the country, Trump posted on Truth Social, saying, “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT, LET IT PLAY OUT, DO NOT GET INVOLVED.”
Trump also posted after Assad was confirmed to have fled to Moscow, saying, “Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now.” He also called for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
President Biden also made announcements about the conflict. He says the administration is “clear eyed” on the subject of a potential IS resurgence, saying, “Just today, U.S. forces conducted a dozen precision strikes, airstrikes, within Syria targeting ISIS camps and ISIS operatives.”
Moscow has not been silent on the matter either, with Russian officials saying the country “is in contact with all factions of the Syrian opposition.” The Russian Foreign Ministry also confirmed that Assad, “made the decision to resign from the presidency and leave the country, instructing a peaceful transfer of power.”
After over 13 years of brutal civil war, back and forth offensives and civilian crackdowns in Syria, long time President Assad has fled the country to his allies in Moscow. Rebels, in a surprise offensive starting on Nov. 27, swiftly captured the major city of Aleppo, turning south and taking the major cities of Hama, then Homs.
The war began during the Arab Spring, a wave of pro-democratic protests, revolutions and civil wars that began in the early 2010s. Major leaders were toppled, including Muammar Gaddaffi in Libya, and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.
⚡️The Syrian war as we known it for 14 years has ended.
Northern Idlib’s Syrian Salvation Government, headed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a U.S. designated terrorist organization, and the Syrian National Army (SNA), a Turkish backed group, began attacking southwards in late November, and by Dec. 5 were at the doors of Homs, a major logistical hub connecting the capital of Damascus to Syria’s Mediterranean coast.
On Dec. 6, rebel forces under the banner of the Southern Front captured a southern regional capital, Suwayda, as well as Daraa, and Assad’s forces were seen leaving much of the eastern part of the country, which is mostly desert. Those areas were taken in small chunks by Islamic State group remnants and U.S. backed Kurdish forces.
While HTS was occupied with resistance from Assad’s forces, Iranian militias, Russian soldiers and Hezbollah in Homs, the Southern Front began to enter outer Damascus on Dec. 7, slowly surrounding the capital city. By the end of the day, attacking forces were said to be in the suburbs of Damascus.
Very early on Dec. 8, defending forces retreated from Homs, and northern rebels were able to capture the city. Another U.S. backed group, the Syrian Free Army, was also able to approach Damascus from the north.
Later that day, Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali stated that he was ready to cooperate with the rebels. In a recorded message he said “We are ready to cooperate with any leadership chosen by the people.”
Notably, President Assad had not made any public appearances in days within Damascus, with many wondering if he had fled. Russian officials later confirmed that he had “stepped down” and left the country, taking refuge in Moscow.
What’s next for the war-torn nation?
With Assad gone and a new normal being imposed on Syria by a number of different armed groups, many are left to wonder what sort of government will be set up in the dictator’s absence. The main group of the offensive, HTS, has links to Al-Qaida and IS, though the group has tried to shed those past connections.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani met with CNN in an interview on Dec. 6, and says he has cut jihadist ties and now embraces religious tolerance and pluralism.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani
Also still in the country are some Russian forces, which fled entrenched positions around the nation, now controlling only their leased Tartus naval base on the Mediterranean and Khmeimim air base near Latakia. Russian forces say they are on “high alert” as rebel forces near their positions.
In the northeast of the country, the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S. backed Kurdish group, still fights Turkish proxy groups such as the SNA, though notably HTS and other groups have not engaged the Kurds so far.
Israel also has a part to play, with the Israeli Defense Forces attacking a number of Assad government military installations near the occupied Golan Heights. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a buffer zone be created near the Golan, with the 1974 ceasefire over the occupied zone void, according to the leader.
Though the fight to oust Assad is over, with major blows to Russian and Iranian influence and power in the region, it is unknown what sort of government may be set up by the number of different groups in Syria. Israeli attacks have only intensified, and it is unknown if these armed groups in the country will be able to keep the peace in the long term, not only within Syria, but with each other.
Prepare for scholarly battle if you want to be a Gettysburg tour guide
The Civil War may long be over, but to become one of the nation’s select few Gettysburg tour guides the battle is still to come. On Saturday, Dec. 7, some of America’s top Civil War buffs will begin the arduous process of getting licensed to become an official tour guide at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania with the written exam.
It’s just the first “tier” in a five-step process prospective guides must go through before they can take on tourists. After that, there’s a panel interview, the field practicum (a test of tour guide skills and knowledge), the oral exam and finally, the post-licensing orientation. Applicants need to pass every tier to become a licensed battlefield guide and the process for this round of recruits won’t wrap up until the spring of 2026.
At any given time, there are about 130 guides licensed to give historical tours at Gettysburg and they only open the process up when park officials decide they need more staff.
Holding such a prestigious position might make it worthwhile to some, but test takers pay to take the test. If a history buff makes it to the end of the testing process, their wages depend on how many guests show up on any given day. Not only that, guides are not considered employees of Gettysburg National Military Park, meaning they won’t get any benefits either.
Feel up to the challenge? The tour guide website has answers to many questions prospects may have about the test, as well as a long list of suggested reading to help potential guides study up.
Can Trump get rid of income tax and replace revenue with tariffs?
In a presidential campaign cycle filled with tax cut proposals, one is loftier than all the rest. Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of getting rid of individual income tax and replacing it with revenue from tariffs.
“Were you serious about that?” Joe Rogan asked Trump of replacing income taxes with tariffs.
“Yeah, sure. But why not?” Trump replied.
This country can become rich with the proper use of tariffs.
Former President Donald Trump
In a Bronx barbershop, Trump expanded on the proposal.
“When we were a smart country, in the 1890s and all, this is when the country was, relatively, the richest it ever was,” he said. “It had all tariffs. It didn’t have an income tax.”
A time before income tax
While income tax has been around for thousands of years, the United States has not. When the Constitution granted Congress authority to impose taxes, most of them were excise taxes, which are taxes placed on specific goods, like alcohol and tobacco.
The country’s first income tax came in 1861 to raise money for the Civil War. It was a flat tax and later repealed in 1872.
This 1868 illustration shows soldiers and others with a prominent banner reading, ‘Reduce taxation before taxation reduces us,’ ahead of the 1868 U.S. presidential election. (Getty Images)
In 1890, the McKinley Tariff, named after then-Rep. William McKinley, raised the average duty on imports to around 50%.
From 1868 until 1913, 90% of all federal revenue came from taxes on liquor, beer, wine and tobacco, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
“And then around in the early 1900s, they switched over, stupidly, to frankly, an income tax,” Trump said.
This was the result of a years-long push by progressives to lower tariffs. The income tax became a fixture of U.S. tax policy via constitutional amendment in 1913.
“The country had grown too big and our industries were stable enough that it wasn’t realistic, nor was it necessary, for us to be able to continue to raise most of our revenues through tariffs,” David M. Walker, former Comptroller General of the United States and chair of the Federal Fiscal Sustainability Foundation, said.
An all-tariff policy today not ‘realistic’
“I don’t think it’s feasible to go from our current system to where we’re totally relying on tariffs. It is possible to go from our current system to where we’re relying primarily, not exclusively, on a progressive consumption tax,” Walker told Straight Arrow News. “But it would be a dramatic change from where we are right now, and government doesn’t tend to do things dramatically all at once.”
Walker served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He has also run for office in Connecticut as a Republican. He told SAN Trump’s proposal to replace income taxes with tariffs is not realistic today.
“I think it’s important to understand that in 1912, right before the income tax came in the U.S., federal government was only 2.5% of the economy, 2.5%. And now we’re approaching 25% of the economy and growing,” Walker said.
The federal government today is a lot bigger than in the 1800s. And for better or worse, federal spending plays a much more critical role in U.S. economic growth.
The debate around ‘who pays for tariffs’
A lot has changed in the U.S. since the turn of the 20th century. But what is remarkably similar is the debate around tariffs.
“The Republican campaign orators and pamphleteers say that the various import duties levied by Congress are paid by the foreigners who send goods to America, and they deny point blank that the price of any article which may be called a necessary expense will be increased to Americans by the operation of the new tariff law … It is no longer necessary to meet theories with theories. Let the facts, which are multiplying every day, tell who it is that pays the onerous tariff taxes. They will answer that the American people pay these taxes and that the burden of them rests most heavily on the poor.”
The article then went paragraph by paragraph detailing how merchants are marking up everything from clothing to crockery to groceries to horse clippers, all within weeks of the McKinley Tariff passing.
The tariffs proved pretty unpopular and Republicans lost dozens of House seats that election, including Rep. McKinley himself. But McKinley didn’t stay knocked down for long. He later became governor of Ohio and then president.
‘He has one medicine for all ills.’ President McKinley is shown as a physician dispensing strong ‘tariff’ medicine. (Getty Images)
“A president who was assassinated named McKinley, he was the tariff king,” Trump told Rogan. “He spoke beautifully of tariffs. His language was really beautiful.”
Today, Trump makes the same claim of tariffs as Republicans in 1890. It is the same claim he made in his first term as president.
“So we’re taking in many billions of dollars, there’s been absolutely no inflation, and frankly, it hasn’t cost our consumer anything, it costs China,” Trump said of his China tariffs in 2019.
But by 2020, thousands of American companies sued the Trump administration, demanding a reversal of the tariff policy and refunds on tariff payments made by the companies. Among those thousands of companies was Tesla, the company that made current Trump surrogate Elon Musk rich.
Tesla had argued in its lawsuit that the tariffs were “arbitrary and capricious,” and said the administration “failed to consider relevant factors when making its decision, and failed to draw a rational connection between the facts found and the choices made.”
Analyzing Trump’s other tariff proposals
Economists and analysts across the board continue to say that Americans pay for tariffs.
“The truth of it is that it is a tax,” said Preston Brashers from the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. “It is something that gets passed along to consumers, and in some cases, it’s going to be something that’s passed along to producers here in the United States when they’re buying products from overseas.”
Trump said his tariff plans will “be bringing in billions and billions of dollars, which will directly reduce our deficits.”
Estimates consistently project the revenue Trump’s tariff proposals would raise will not pay for Trump’s tax cut proposals. These estimates do not consider the loftier “get rid of income tax” idea.
“The important thing with these tariffs is, if they work as intended, they will reduce trade, and so they don’t raise as much revenue as you might think,” Marc Goldwein from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said.
You’re not going to see a fundamental shift away from our historical revenue sources because the gap is just too great.
David M. Walker, former Comptroller General
“Let me give you the bottom line,” Walker said. “Neither major candidate for president has taken our deteriorating financial condition seriously. Both of them are making promises that will make our situation worse rather than better. But one also has to consider that this is what I call the silly season. Lots of promises are made and you have to assess what is the political feasibility of those promises happen[ing], and in some cases even what is the constitutionality of some of those things happening.”
“I think what’s more realistic is you could see selected imposition of tariffs on certain goods from certain countries in order to try to help level the playing field and in order to try to help promote more domestic jobs,” Walker added. “But you’re not going to see, I think, across-the-board approaches, and you’re not going to see a fundamental shift away from our historical revenue sources because the gap is just too great.”
Under the title ‘It Takes Taxes and Bonds,’ the Uncle Sam character, a personification of the United States of America, writes in a large ledger labeled ‘War Budget,’ 1940s. (Getty Images)
Even history shows where tariff-driven revenue fell short: times of war. The United States had to temporarily turn to an income tax to fund the Civil War. The threat of war pushed remaining states to ratify the 16th Amendment, allowing Congress to tax incomes. And during World Wars I and II, Congress dug deep into the income tax coffer to pay for it.
Famous New York lawyer Amos Pinchot led the charge pushing Congress to raise income tax rates on the wealthy ahead of American involvement in World War I.
He correctly predicted, “If we ever get a big income tax on in wartime, some of it – a lot of it – is going to stick.”
Kim Jong Un: South Korea flying drones to drop propaganda leaflets in the North
North Korea is accusing South Korea of sending drones to drop propaganda leaflets over its capital, Pyongyang. The country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, is threatening military action if these flights continue.
On Friday, Oct. 11, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry claimed that drones were spotted over the capital city, distributing “numerous leaflets full of political propaganda” against Kim. The North labeled these intrusions as “a grave political and military provocation” and warned of potential armed conflict. The Kim regime said its military would prepare “all means of attack” if further incursions occurred.
Tensions have been escalating as activists in the South sent balloons filled with anti-Kim leaflets across the border. While no anti-North Korean activist group in South Korea has taken responsibility for the drones, the South Korean military said it could not confirm the North’s claims but advised North Korea “not to act rashly.”
For months, North Korea has taken unusual steps to defy the South. This week, it cut off roads and railways connected to South Korea. The North also installed landmines along the border and sent trash-filled balloons into the South, sometimes disrupting operations at South Korean airports. Such activities near and across the demarcation line, once rare, significantly increased in 2024.
Biden to address UN assembly for last time as president
Joe Biden is set to address the United Nations General Assembly for the final time as U.S. president. And with a heavy focus on Pennsylvania, former President Donald Trump is reportedly returning to the town of his first assassination attempt. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024.
Biden to address UN assembly for last time as president
The Pentagon announced Monday, Sept. 23, it’s sending additional U.S. troops to the Middle East to supplement the roughly 40,000 already in the region as tensions continue to rise there — especially between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Associated Press has reported Biden administration officials will also be speaking to their counterparts on the sidelines of the U.N. about ways to prevent the fighting there from escalating further.
Zelenskyy is also expected to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump while he’s visiting the U.S.
Trump, Harris focus on crucial swing state Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has long been considered a swing state when it comes to presidential elections and this year, the candidates know the importance of winning there. During a rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania Monday, former President Trump told supporters, “If we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole thing. It’s very simple.”
His visit was just the latest in a handful of visits to the crucial state in recent weeks as he looks to secure a second presidential term.
Also on Monday, sources close to the Trump campaign told media outlets he will return to Butler, Pennsylvania on Oct. 5. Butler is where a sniper fired and grazed his ear with a bullet, in the first assassination attempt on his life in July.
Since then, the Secret Service put in place tighter security protocols for candidates at rallies.
Vice President Kamala Harris is also pushing to win the Pennsylvania vote. She’ll be there again Wednesday, Sept. 25, for a campaign event in Pittsburgh. She’s also made many stops in the swing state since taking up the Democratic nomination.
In the 2020 election, Pennsylvania went to Joe Biden, a key state in helping him win the presidency. There are 19 votes at stake in the Keystone State.
Israeli strike kills nearly 500 in Lebanon in deadliest day since 2006
Nearly 500 people were killed Monday in Lebanon in the deadliest strike by Israel in nearly two decades. Lebanese authorities said Israeli warplanes struck civilian areas in the southern part of the country.
Earlier in the day, Israel had told civilians to move away from the areas, which it says are commonly used by Hezbollah for military purposes.
This comes after almost a year of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza along Israel’s southern border. Israel is now shifting its focus to the north, where the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.
Tuesday morning, Israel’s military said it struck “dozens” of additional targets in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it fired rockets into northern Israel late Monday night.
The fighting has heightened fears of a widening war in the region.
Missouri set to execute man convicted of 1998 murder
An execution of a man found guilty of a 1998 murder is set to proceed Tuesday evening in Missouri, after the state’s supreme court and governor rejected requests to cancel the scheduled lethal injection.
A jury convicted Marcellus Williams of the stabbing death of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and former newspaper reporter, inside her suburban St. Louis home. Williams has asserted his innocence.
His lawyers argued the state supreme court should halt the proceedings due to alleged procedural errors in jury selection and alleged mishandling of the murder weapon by the prosecution. The court rejected those arguments.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson also rejected a clemency request to switch the sentence to life in prison. Williams’ lawyers still have an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court.
As of now, though, the execution — which would be the third in the state this year — is set for 6 p.m. CST Tuesday.
Hurricane John makes landfall in Mexico as Category 3 storm
Hurricane John made landfall in Mexico late Monday as a Category 3 storm. It brought 120 miles per hour winds to Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
Levi’s teases a potential partnership with Beyoncé
It appears music superstar Beyoncé has a new collaboration coming out. This one would not be with another singer, but with a jeans company.
Levi’s teased what appears to be a partnership with Beyoncé in an Instagram post on Monday. The company shared an image of a woman wearing a cowboy hat and riding a horse with the caption reading “Introducing a new chapter,” seemingly referencing Beyoncé’s latest album “Cowboy Carter,” which features a song called “Levi’s Jeans.” Levi’s also tagged her Instagram account in the post.
You could say denim is having a moment lately, with fashion brands like American Eagle and Abercrombie saying the trend is growing in popularity and revitalizing sales.
Biden designates national monument at site of 1908 race riot in Springfield
President Joe Biden signed a proclamation on Friday, Aug. 16, designating a national monument at the site of the 1908 race riot in Springfield, Illinois, 116 years to the day of the tragedy. The proclamation dedicates more than 1.5 acres of public land for the monument.
During the ceremonial signing in the Oval Office, President Biden marked the historic violence that unfolded in former President Abraham Lincoln’s hometown on Aug. 16, 1908. During the riot, several Black residents were killed, and dozens of Black homes and businesses were destroyed by a white mob.
The events unfolded after two incidents. First, a Black man was accused of killing a white man. Tensions grew, when a month later, another Black man was accused of raping a white woman. The alleged rape victim later admitted that she lied about the rape to coverup an extramarital affair she was having with a white man.
The accusations would prompt thousands of rioters to rampage through Springfield in search of the two Black men who had been jailed. The attackers were eventually stopped by Illinois militiamen after they were ordered to intervene.
Outrage over the violence led to the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 2023, the group asked President Biden to recognize the two-acre site. This led to a National Park Service study of homes burned during the 1908 riot and other remaining structures from the attack.
Biden’s authority to designate the land comes from the 1906 Antiquities Act, which most recently has been used to create national monuments on public land. This is Biden’s second time using the act to preserve a site crucial to the Civil Rights Movement. Last year, he established the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument.
The president’s proclamation also comes six weeks after the deadly police shooting of 36-year-old Sonya Massey, a Springfield resident.
“Sonya’s death at the hands of a responding officer reminds us that all too often Black Americans face fears for their safety in ways many of the rest of us do not,” Biden said in a statement. “Sonya’s family deserves justice.”
UK vows social media law review in wake of riots spurred by disinformation
The United Kingdom’s government promised further review of regulations on social media companies after widespread riots spurred by online misinformation. False information shared on social media about a July stabbing attack sparked the riots.
On Friday, Aug. 9, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that the riots show the new regulations set to take effect next year under a social media safety law are not strong enough and need to be revisited. Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded to Khan by vowing that the government would take a broader look at social media following the riots.
The law passed in October, allows the government to fine social media companies up to 10% of global revenue for failing to take down posts promoting violence of hate speech. Managers of social media platforms may also be held criminally liable and social media sites may have access limited in the most severe cases. In the wake of the riots, proposed changes include sanctioning social media platforms if they allow “legal but harmful” content such as false information to grow.
Riots ensued across the U.K. after online posts shared false details about the suspected killer of three young girls in a knife attack. As rioters clashed with police, Elon Musk, the owner of the platform X, shared a number of misleading posts, including one suggesting civil war was “inevitable” in the U.K. and a fake Daily Telegraph headline suggesting rioters would be sent to detention camps. Musk received backlash from British officials for the posts.
Action is already being taken against some online provocateurs. One man in the U.K. is now serving a 20-month sentence for Facebook posts that urged rioters to attack a hotel housing asylum-seekers and refugees. Another man is serving more than three years in jail for encouraging people online to light hotels housing immigrants on fire.
A recent poll among residents in the United Kingdom showed that around 70% of people believe that social media companies did a poor job of tackling misinformation during the disorder.
Meanwhile, as relative calm has returned to Britain, King Charles expressed gratitude to the police for restoring order after speaking with Starmer on the telephone last week. King Charles also said he was encouraged by the response by the community in restoring peace in the wake of the damage done to their neighborhoods.
California sets aside $12 million for nation’s largest reparations effort
The state of California announced on Friday, June 28, that it will be allocating $12 million in its next budget to provide compensation to Black residents for racial injustices. Th effort would be the largest government-funded reparations effort of its kind in the country.
The money is a far cry from the billions of dollars that a reparations task force recommended earlier this year. However, considering the state is facing a $50 billion budget shortfall, some advocates said that they were pleased any money got allocated for reparations. Still, some said that while the money is a step in the right direction that “it’s not enough” but added that this is “the first time ever” reparations “will be a line item in a state budget.”
Movements to compensate Black people for the wounds of slavery and segregation in the United States gained new steam following the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands a Minneapolis police officer and the ensuing protests.
The movement has prompted expanded efforts to explore reparations across the United States. For instance, the District of Columbia’s 2025 budget proposal includes $1.5 million to study the feasibility of reparations and to come up with proposals to address the harms of slavery.
However, some efforts to compensate Black people for a history of racism have hit a roadblock. In late May, a conservative advocacy group sued to halt the country’s first ever government-funded reparations program in Evanston, Illinois. The plaintiffs argue that the effort to compensate Black residents through reparations discriminates against other ethnicities. Despite the challenge, around $5 million has already been paid out to 193 Black residents.
In another setback for reparations advocates, the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down a lawsuit seeking reparations for the last two survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
California’s effort to deliver on its reparations promise still face opposition from Republicans as well as some Asian and Latino lawmakers, who argue that it’s unfair to make current residents pay for the wrongs of the past.
The Golden State’s budget still doesn’t outline how the reparations will be paid out to Black residents, but state lawmakers said that it will be worked into reparations-related bills currently circulating in the Legislature.
